


Unscripted

by cinderkylo



Category: The Dead Don't Die (2019)
Genre: Deviates From Canon, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Female Reader, Grief/Mourning, Loneliness, My First Fanfic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon Fix-It, Reader-Insert, Spoilers, Tension, Zombies, no y/n, third person reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-04-24 12:18:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19173136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderkylo/pseuds/cinderkylo
Summary: “You... shouldn’t… You’re not… Huh.” The police officer huffed, as if stumped by some problem. “What brings you into town?”“Who’s asking?” She shouldn’t... what? Was yet another thing going wrong? This didn’t seem like a routine stop, since he didn’t have a police vehicle with him. Just the Smart Car. Strange to have him questioning her if he was off duty.“Officer Ronald Peterson. Or just Ronnie, when I’m off the clock.”She decided he had to be curious about this random out-of-towner showing up after 9pm. That was all it was. “My aunt lived here in town. She passed away and I’m supposed to help get her house in order before the rest of the family gets here in a couple days.”---(Or, Reader arrives in Centerville to help with her aunt’s memorial right as the zombie apocalypse hits and forms an unlikely alliance with the local law enforcement.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: This chapter contains spoilers for The Dead Don’t Die. They’re pretty mild compared to what’s coming in later chapters, but the reason why zombies are out and some of the big jokes are referenced so if that bothers you… come back after you’ve seen the film! Also this is my first official fic ever, so that’s fun. Sometimes you just gotta rewrite an unsatisfying ending.

 

* * *

  

_// now you look at me like I’m a crime scene //_

 

   Most people thought the town of Centerville had a certain charm.

   But not Mallory O’Brien’s niece. She had always found Centerville a little too quiet. Small, rural, never had much going on. Maybe even creepy, in its own way. If she had to take a trip, she’d rather go almost anywhere else. But she kept reminding herself it was only for a couple of days, people were counting on her, this wasn’t about her. It was about Mallory. 

   The evening after she heard the news, she made the long drive into town by herself, reminiscing on her memories here from years past. Passing by Farmer Miller’s place on the outskirts of town made her cringe. The last time she was in Centerville she saw the farmer in the diner, and he'd said some horrific insensitive things about some of the other townspeople.

   As she approached town she slowed down, in case one of Miller’s chickens ran out in front of the car. Wouldn’t be the first time. The old creep could blame it on her, call the police or something, even if it wasn’t her fault at all. He probably would. She was too tired after a long day of driving and didn’t want to deal with that. She planned to go to bed early tonight. It should be getting dark soon. Why was there still so much light left in the sky?

   It had been years, but she’d visited Centerville a few times before, most often as a short getaway with her family. Mallory wasn’t her biological aunt, but that didn’t matter. The eccentric older woman was a long-time friend of her family, and as such, they all called her Aunt Mallory. But then Mallory passed away suddenly, although not as a huge surprise to anyone. In her mid-sixties, known county-wide for an immense love of Chardonnay, it was bound to happen at some point sooner or later.

   However, her niece was the only one able to come into town right away and start making initial arrangements for the memorial. Mallory’s biological family would handle the legal issues when they made it out to Centerville, but in the meantime her niece agreed to begin getting the house in order. She didn’t want to do this, to be there in that house all alone without Mallory. But she was the only one available on such short notice.

   A few towns back she’d stopped at one of the big stores to buy gasoline and enough groceries to last for several days, but before heading further into town toward the house, she wanted to stop in at the mini mart. Pulling up out front, the decor caught her eye. She thought she remembered stopping in here before, although it looked a bit different back then. Now, the whole place was loaded up with monster memorabilia and things like that. You never knew what you were going to be doing, she thought, parking the car. The hand-painted sign read Bobby’s Gas And Stuff, so she knew she was in the right place. Her sense of direction was okay, but the phone signal had cut out way back and the travel app’s verbal directions stopped coming. She was on her own, but still felt pretty confident she could find Mallory’s house. Knowing it wasn’t far from the diner, if she could ask someone inside how to get there, she should be good to go.

   On her way into the store, she offered her best cheerful smile to the guy behind the counter.“Neat set-up you’ve got here,” she remarked, gesturing toward the displays. Almost gratuitous with the comics and games, but if he was trying to attract tourist attention, it was working. “You’re Bobby?”

   “Yeah. Uh. Thanks.” Bobby shifted his weight slowly from side to side, looking a little bit dazed. She didn’t think it had anything to do with her being there, though. Maybe he was just like that. He was so pale he almost looked sickly, with mousy brown curls, and round glasses like Harry Potter. Even though his energy seemed a little awkward, she got a sort of harmless nerd vibe from him.

   If she had to stay in this town for a while, she figured she might as well try to make friends with the people who lived here, get ahead of the small-town gossip and all. Aunt Mallory had a reputation and she knew it. The two of them didn’t have a ton in common and it’d bother her if people assumed things about her just from the reason she came into town.

   She introduced herself to Bobby in return. “This _is_ Centerville, isn’t it? For some reason the map on my phone got disconnected. The damn thing won’t even turn on.”

   He hesitated for a moment. “Yeah, this is Centerville.”

   “Is the diner close by?”

   “Not far at all. Here, you hang a right out of the lot, keep going along the main road into town. Can’t miss it.”

   “That’s great. Thank you!” She turned to the shelf with the candy bars and picked out her favorite. She also grabbed a container of milk. “It’s so light outside still. Kinda strange.” The mini mart didn’t have air conditioning, or it was broken, so she didn’t want to linger here too long. When bringing the items up to the counter, she noticed a small stack of newspapers set out and stopped to look, squinting at the headline, which blared that the earth was off its axis. The paper looked like one of those ridiculous tabloid conspiracy ones.

   “If the earth really is off its axis, that would explain the daylight and the, uh, messed up phone signals,” Bobby offered.

   She chuckled, looking back up from the article as she paid. All the peculiar events of the day made her wonder if maybe… just maybe... it could be true. “I hope that’s not the case. Well, thanks for your help, Bobby.”

   Scooping up her things she headed back outside. She really, really didn’t want to go back to that house alone. The gravity of the situation hadn’t hit her yet, that she’d never be able to talk to Aunt Mallory again. Not to mention the massive task she’d agreed to in coming here. She’d need some time to manage her feelings about it all. But she knew that someday, soon, her grief would run her over like a -

   A shiny red convertible Smart car pulled into the lot at that moment, interrupting her train of thought. The driver was so tall that he looked almost absurd in such a small vehicle. He stopped the car in front of the gas pump, turned off the engine, and surveyed her as he struggled out of the car. Despite the police uniform he wore, the man appeared to be off-duty. He stood there for a couple seconds, staring at her. Or at least she thought he was staring at her. The reflection off his glasses made it a bit hard to tell, but what else would he be staring at? Aside from maybe the cheesy zombie mask attached to the mini mart door frame?

   After a moment, he ran a hand through his wavy dark hair. His expression switched from casual to puzzled, then annoyed, which struck her as another weird thing to happen today. “You... shouldn’t…You’re not… Huh.” He huffed, as if stumped by some problem. “What brings you into town?”

   “Who’s asking?” She responded, a little apprehensive, setting the milk and candy bar on the roof of her car. She shouldn’t what? Was yet another thing going wrong? Were the tabs on her license plate expired or something and she forgot to renew them? This didn’t seem like a routine stop, though, since he didn’t have a police vehicle with him. Strange to have him questioning her if he was off duty.

   “Officer Ronald Peterson. Or just Ronnie, when I’m off the clock.”

   Okay, she was right and he wasn’t working at the moment. She decided he had to be curious about this random out-of-towner showing up after 9pm. That was all it was. She told him her name. “My aunt lived here in town. She passed away and I’m supposed to help get her house in order before the rest of the family gets here in a couple days.”

   “Your aunt. You’re Mallory’s niece?”

   “I mean, pretty much. She and my mom are quite close. Or they were, I mean.” She pressed her lips together, looking down.

   “Oh, okay. I saw Mallory a little bit ago,” Ronnie said, and she looked back up at him, her eyebrows narrowing. “Well, in a way, I guess. The funeral home in town is unavailable at the moment, so we have her remains up at the station until tomorrow.”

   Her frown deepened. “What’s tomorrow?”

   “The coroner from Latrobe is picking her up.”

   She shook her head at her own oversight. “Of course. I should have known that. Sorry, I haven’t been able to get ahold of anyone else in her family in the last few hours. They said to drive into town as soon as possible and get to the house, so here I am. But I can’t get my phone to work and it’s starting to freak me out a little bit. I even had to ask for directions from Bobby in there.”

   “Yeah, seems like everything’s been all out of whack today,” Ronnie agreed. “Will you be okay finding where you’re going? If you want a police escort to give the place the all-clear, make sure there's not a wild animal hiding out… or several wild animals...”

   She didn’t answer right away. The idea did appeal to her. Never can be too careful, she thought, even if wild animals wouldn't scare her off. She had bigger things to worry about right now. But she didn’t want to take up his time if he was off the clock. “I don’t know. Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to bother you with that.”

   “It’s the least I can do. I didn’t know her so well, but Mallory was a... friend of the chief’s.”

   She didn’t know anything about that, but she shrugged and gave in. "Okay, sure. Thank you, Officer. I'll wait until you're done, and follow you?"

   He nodded, so she took her things off the roof of her car, got in, and rolled her window down. She'd be lying if she said she didn't peek back at him through her wing mirror while he fueled up that tiny car. The way he had looked at her when he pulled up a moment ago still felt so strange. Even after he'd offered to help her get to the house safely, she couldn’t shake it. Before, it almost seemed like he didn’t want her to be here at all. She didn’t particularly want to be here either, but moping about it wouldn’t accomplish anything. All she could do was try to make the most of it.

   They locked eyes again, through the mirror. Shit, he’d caught her staring. How long had she been staring? He’d already clambered back into his car, and once he had her attention, indicated with a head tilt that it was time to go.

   A deep breath brought her mind back to planet Earth, and she trailed after him toward the house.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy moly, chapter two is here at last! This is an angsty one, y'all. Lots of grief. Ronnie attempts to be comforting... as much as he can be toward someone he just met that day. 
> 
> Limited spoilers compared to chapter one - just mild ones RE: Ronnie's personality/interests & like two other things that were in the preview so I don't feel too bad about it.

_// just come on by, oh I need your easy roll around of a good time //_

 

Her aunt’s house did not take long to find. Without a guide, she could have gotten to Mallory’s without any trouble, but it was more of a relief than anything to have company. Even if only for a little while.

A curious thought kept popping into her head. Something about that officer guy’s reaction to seeing her made her feel an obligation to try extra hard, prove that though she was here because of her aunt she wasn’t just like her, and even though she came from out of town he didn’t have to be suspicious of her. All she was here to do was clean up the house and get organized so the family could figure out what to do with all of Mallory’s things.

Ronnie pulled over and parked on the street in front of the house, which was close to the diner like she remembered, around the corner only two blocks away. She took a spot in the driveway. With a deep breath she rolled the car’s windows back up, then removed the keys from the ignition and slung her backpack over her shoulder. Once she was out of the car she flipped through all the keys on her lanyard to find the one for the house.

As Ronnie got nearer it occurred to her that he had a certain attractiveness about him, even more so up close than from a distance. She’d noticed before that he was tall, but not excessively so, and he looked strong, in the best way. To keep from staring at him again she turned away and pretended to still be looking for the key she needed.

“It’s startin’ to get a little dark,” Ronnie commented, tilting his head up at the sky. He put his hands in his pockets. “Well. I guess I’ll scout the outside first, if that’s okay with you. Give you a chance to get settled in first.”

She agreed quietly and brought her eyes back up, still reeling from the draw toward him she’d felt a moment ago. When he looked back down at her she couldn’t tell at all what he was thinking. She often had an easier time reading people’s expressions, but he kept his clear of any clue as to what the earlier weirdness could be about. Was he always this ambiguous?

“I’ll be back shortly then.” He set off around the right side of the house and she was left alone.

With the evidence that she’d forgotten how to speak, somehow, she was glad to have a moment to herself to try and get it together. It took a lot to render her speechless like this; she’d done well enough until he caught her staring in the parking lot.

Loading her arms up with as many of her grocery tote bags as she could carry, she headed up toward the house, mouthing to herself that she needed to act like a normal person or things would get awkward - and fast.

The latch had caught when she tried to turn the key, and she had to jiggle the doorknob to get in. Once the door opened all the way, the faint smell of stale wine washed over her. “God, Aunt Mal, really?!” she exclaimed, wrinkling her nose. A little stuffy air she’d expected, but this was something else. As bad as it was from the house being left shut up, she left the door part way open and rushed through the front room into the kitchen as fast as she could.

A bottle of Mallory’s chardonnay lay sideways on the counter that jutted out from the wall. Much of its contents had dripped onto the hardwood floor in there, becoming a sticky, congealed mess. What a fantastic welcome, she thought. At least bugs hadn’t gotten into it. She didn’t know if white wine would stain the floor, but she hoped Mallory was type to be prepared with supplies if it did.

Cursing, she slipped all her grocery bags onto the small square table in the kitchen, careful not to knock over any of the knick-knacks laid out on it. On the wall on the other side of the table hung a streaky mirror, and her reflection startled her. Her hair was an absolute mess from driving with the windows down, to the point where it occurred to her that could be the reason behind why Ronnie looked at her funny earlier. But that seemed so shallow. He didn’t even know her. Plus, he’d said “she shouldn’t” something, before cutting himself off. There had to be more to it than that, right?

And she was overthinking it. It didn’t matter that much in the end, because he was nice enough to offer to come with her and make sure the house was safe. So far the worst thing in here had to be the smell of that spilled wine. So gross.

She worked on tidying her hair, getting it to a presentable point again - okay, slightly above presentable, for certain reasons - then set about opening some windows to help clear the air. The front room and kitchen area only had two windows, both of which she opened, and the balmy summer air started its work right away. She’d been fortunate that the doors to the rest of the house were closed, and it wouldn’t smell as bad outside this room. Rather, she hoped it wouldn’t.

With that taken care of, she wanted to get her perishables put in the refrigerator before Ronnie showed up. Fitting everything in ended up like a game of Tetris, but she had managed to get most of it when she heard a light knock at the front door.

“Come on in,” she called out, brushing off her hands. She moved her hair out of her face again.

Ronnie stepped into the house, hesitating by the door. “Looks all clear out there.”

“Thank you. Sorry about the wine smell. I opened all the windows in here, but...” She grimaced. There wasn’t much else she could do about it at this point until she cleaned up the mess and found a candle to light, or some Febreeze or something.

“Oh, yuck,” Ronnie said, when he saw the spill. “Could be worse, though. A lot worse. It’s bad, but not compared to some things we could have walked in on.”

She balked for a moment. “I mean, sure, when you put it that way.”

Mallory hadn’t died in the house - it ended up being heart failure while she was out. If she’d died at home who knew how long it would have taken for someone to come looking. Most of the family lived out of state and she wasn’t sure how many friends the old lady had in town. Except, according to Ronnie, the chief of police.

“Can I offer you anything?” she asked, going back to the fridge. “We have milk… water… juice… I could make some coffee, or I’m sure I can find, uh, something stronger, if you like.” Offering this handsome police officer some of her late aunt’s booze might be bad form, but she was trying to be hospitable.

“Water’s fine. I never understood how people could drink coffee late at night. It keeps me up.” He stepped further in and looked around in the kitchen while she went to fill two glasses for them from the faucet.

After a second Ronnie nodded toward a water jug cooler, one of the ones with a spout, that rested on the edge of the counter. “That’s a good cooler. Make sure you clean it and refill it,” Ronnie said. “With all the weird stuff going on... you never know when something like that might be useful.”

Something about the way he said it felt ominous, and the thought lingered in the air until she offered him the glass of water.

“Okay, good idea. I’ll do that after a while, just in case. Thanks.” She figured she was reading too much into it again. He was trying to be helpful, nothing more to it.

Some people had socially awkward tendencies, and she was starting to think perhaps Ronnie was one of those people. She had her moments, too. Like today. At least she knew her own reasons for it, but she was pretty confused about Ronnie’s behavior and didn’t feel comfortable bringing it up. They’d only met less than an hour ago, after all.

“Do you still want me to check on the rest of the house?” Ronnie asked her. “Would Mallory have had any pets that could be hiding around?”

“Yes please, that’d be great. I don't think she had a pet, but it's better to be sure. I’ll come with you.” She justified it in her head that it was also a safety precaution. She didn’t know him well, but she wanted to trust that his intentions were good. Mallory didn’t seem the type to have too serious of contraband laying around for some random cop to find when doing an impromptu sweep of the house for her niece’s peace of mind, but she guessed they’d find out soon enough.

Ronnie set his water glass down on the counter next to the cooler and glanced between the three doors against the far wall. "Which way?"

"Um… mudroom first because that's quick." She placed her glass of water by the sink and pointed to the door in the opposite corner, between the fridge and the stove. Once they had determined that room all clear they went together to the middle door, which led to the hallway and the rest of the house.

The hallway had always given her the creeps. It was long and so dark, even with the lights on, with unpainted wood paneling on the walls like two of the bedrooms. Having someone to check it out with her gave her a lot of relief.

All the doors in the hallway were shut except for the first door on the right, the guest bathroom. It was in good shape, with no wild animals to be found. Both guest rooms were in decent condition as well, if a bit dusty from disuse. Mallory's room was going to need a lot of work in the days to come, but they didn't find any intruders or pets anywhere, which was all that mattered right now.

With the house verified safe, she and Ronnie made their way back into the front room. He watched with a curious look as she closed the hallway door behind them. “I’m real sorry about your aunt,” he said.

She twisted her lips to the side and shrugged, not knowing what else to do. “Thanks. I wish I’d known her better, you know? I feel like that’s always the case when you lose someone you care about. It’s so… permanent. But you can’t change anything you did in the past to make it better. Because they’re gone, and that’s it.”

Walking over to the front window she sat down on the grey futon and crossed her arms. She leaned all the way back and shook her head at the ceiling. Some things were coming up in her head that weren’t only about losing Mallory, things she didn’t want to think about right now. The timing was all wrong, like the universe’s idea of a joke. She had work to do here, though, and she’d do everything she could to focus on what she needed to accomplish before the rest of the family came to town.

Neither of them said anything for a long time. Eventually Ronnie brought her cup of water back over to her.

“That’s it,” he repeated, nodding and puffing out his cheeks a little, his lips pressed together. “There’s this song I like. Part of it goes... ‘Hearts break when loved ones journey on, at the thought that they're now forever gone. So we tell ourselves they're all still around us all the time, gone but not forgotten, just memories left behind.’” He didn’t sing the lyrics, but she wished he would have.

“Sounds familiar,” she murmured, taking a sip of her water. It was like she knew what it was from, like it was on the tip of her tongue and she couldn’t figure it out. “But yeah, that’s exactly what it feels like, it’s…” she sighed. “Sorry, I’m taking up your whole evening, aren’t I? You probably have more important things to do than listen to me griping about my life, Officer.”

“Well I’ve got an early start tomorrow but I wanted to make sure you were okay,” Ronnie said. ‘Okay’ as in that she wasn’t upset, she wondered, or that she wasn’t a questionable person?

“I’ll be okay,” she assured him, standing up. “I should let you get going, though. But thanks for all your help. I feel a lot better knowing there’s nothing too out of the ordinary in here.”

Ronnie went over the door with her and puffed out his cheeks again for a second before he answered. “Yep. Oh, remember to close those windows before too long. Don’t want to let the... bugs in.”

“Got it. I’ll walk you out, I have some more things to bring in.”

They walked down the pathway until they reached her car.

“Have a safe rest of your night, miss,” he said, heading off to his tiny convertible.

“You too. See you around town!” Was that too much hopefulness she detected in her own voice? Maybe. Was she going to overthink it while she brought the rest of her gear inside? Definitely.

* * *

 That night, lying in the guest room she usually chose to sleep in, she had a hard time staying asleep. The old window air conditioner couldn’t strike the right balance between too hot or too cold and she couldn’t get comfortable. Eventually she gave up and shut the useless thing off.

In the quiet, in the dark, half-asleep, she could have sworn she heard a low voice muttering from the sidewalk.

“Coffee…”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zombies. Are. Coming. 
> 
>  
> 
> Also I lost a beloved pet this morning so the grief stuff is fresh in my mind. At least there's a healthy outlet for it with this storyline. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Lyric quote at the beginning is from Thin Line by honeyhoney. The song Ronnie references is... the theme song for the movie. 
> 
>  
> 
> Find me on Tumblr with the same username (cinderkylo).


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